The Occult of having Happiness
(seeing through, putting down and being at ease )

Rinpoche first discoursed in 1992
Senior Cheng in France repeated it on behalf of Rinpoche on 23rd June, 2002 (after about ten years)
Uploaded to the Website on 28th August, 2014 (and then after about twelve years again)
Introduction
We are now in an era of turbulence which is full of anxious distress, turmoil being broken out unexpectedly. In actual daily life, Man has to work very hard all day long. Under the circumstance that only allows survival of the fittest, there is no choice but to ‘bow for the sake of five bushels of rice (as salary)’ (remark: this phrase means one has to bow to the superior in order to get the scanty pay), or to run around for solely fame and wealth, or else to be engaged in worldly matters and social activities. Working busily from morning till night, the pressure accumulated is so large that makes one out of breath. In the course of time, when one cannot bear it any more, one will thus suffer from nervous breakdown. How can one strike a balance between pressure and slackness?  How can one be liberated from anxiety and delusion?  How can one obtain happiness as well as calmness in lives?
Earnest advice
There was once a practitioner who took with him two flowers to make offerings to Buddha Sakyamuni.  The Buddha said, “Put down.” The practitioner then put the two flowers in his hand down. The Buddha said again, “Put down.” The practitioner was so confused that he was at a loss of what to do.  His hands were both empty, what else could he put down? The Buddha said compassionately, “You should put down the Six External Sense Bases, the Six Internal Sense Organs and the Six Recognitions.  Let all of them go momentary, you will then reach a place where there is nothing more to give up.  You are thus in another realm in which birth and death are waived.”
•	The Six External Sense Bases means: form, sound, smell, taste, touch and thought which are all imaginary as well as erroneous phenomenon that contaminate the peacefulness and quietness of one’s mind and soul.  Hence, they should all be put down.
•	The Six Internal Sense Organs are: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind.  They are like vegetation such as grass or trees in which their ideology and survival comply with their roots.  The existence of the Six Sense Organs gives rise to the Six Recognitions.  As the karma of life from or before the very beginning relies necessarily on the functioning of the sense organs, so the Six Sense Organs should also be put down.  The cognitive functions of the Six Sense Organs to the Six Sense Bases generate seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and knowing.
•	The Six Recognitions: complying with the Six Sense Organs and the Six Sense Bases as a cooperating cause, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and knowing are thus produced which lead to the respective Six Recognitions, namely, consciousness of eyes, consciousness of ears, consciousness of nose, consciousness of tongue, consciousness of body and consciousness of reasoning.  All the consciousnesses thereby bring forth the role of analyzing which consequently makes one flutter with delusions and is frequently disturbed by annoyance.  Hence, the Six Recognitions should be put down most urgently.
Conclusion
The Buddha says, “Seeing through and putting down can attain Isvara (self-existent, sovereign, independent and absolute like Buddhas and Bodhisattvas).” It means a complete and thorough realization of the truth of ‘Dependent Origination’ as well as ‘the Emptiness of Nature’.
•	The illusion of phenomenon (the appearance of things) is the target to see through; the lure and coercion of fame and gain as well as material desire are the ones to be put down.
•	As a result, one feels at ease and unrestrained liberty is acquired.
Hence, competing for ‘power’, ‘benefit’, ‘social status’, etc., are in fact profitless to enjoyment. They do not only hinder us from having happiness, but also increase our worries. If one wants to achieve unrestrained freedom, putting everything down is the only way to do so. When everything is put down, the burden in our innermost being will naturally be reduced; a reduction in burden can thus make one attains the occult of having happiness, that is, one can really see through, put down and be at ease.